UB dance majors have the opportunity to meet young men and women within their field who have not only made dance their career, but also done so in impressive fashion.
The Hubbard Street 2 comes to the Center for the Arts on Saturday to do just that.
Hubbard Street 2 is a smaller branch of the larger Hubbard Street Dance Chicago main company and was created in 1997.
Hubbard Street's repertoire includes Asian, Indian, reggae, percussion-based, classical and techno-themed music. Their current repertoire includes 13 unique pieces that bear such titles as, "I Wantchu Kool, Cuz U Blow My Mind" and "Brasileirinho," which includes classical Brazilian music.
The company, which performs for an estimated 32,000 people annually, consists of six young dancers that range from 20 to 25 years of age. Artistic director Julie Nakagawa B?\0xA6ttcher answered perhaps the most important question of why to see what they have to offer.
"People should come see Hubbard Street because its much more personal than other dance companies. We will have a pre and post performance session that allows the audience members to interact with the performers and ask them anything they wish."
B?\0xA6ttcher said that the dancers' ages are extremely deceiving.
"Even though these dancers are young, they are very professional," she said. "They do this for a living. (It is) something that I'm sure many students in the University at Buffalo's (department of theater and dance) would love to do, and these young adults in Hubbard Street are living proof that it can be done, and they would be delighted to offer tips to students that are interested on how to make this a career."
Each of the six dancers has their forte and Hubbard Street lets them express that for the audience to witness.
"We are really interested in investing in the individual artist and this is reflected in our show."
The company has only recently taken their dancers and individualistic concept to various theatres outside of Chicago. They are currently touring in Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. They've even broken through to international dates, performing in Germany.
The six dancers currently on tour with Hubbard Street are exceptionally talented and are all very diverse, hailing from different parts of the country and world.
They include William Cannon, from Columbus, Ohio, who began his dance training at age 11 at BalletMet dance academy, where he eventually became a company member before joining up with Hubbard Street.
Sarah Fuller from Santa Cruz, Calif., has studied with Paul Taylor Dance Company and Dance Space NYC and performed with The 58 Group in Chicago. Laura Halm from Baltimore, Md., began dancing at age 4, and received her BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School. Luis Ramos from Cidra, Puerto Rico was the recipient of the "Ballet Dancer of the Year" award in Puerto Rico in 2003.
Miguel Perez from Tucson, Ariz., began dancing at age 18 with the University of Arizona and became soloist/company dancer for the Miss Kentucky Pageant. Jessica Tong from Binghamton, N.Y., began dancing at age 9 and by age 15 was training with the University of Utah while still attending high school. Tong danced professionally with both BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio and Ballet Tech in New York.
As Albert Einstein so gracefully put it, "Dancers are the athletes of God." So if anyone's tired of seeing middle-aged parents desecrating the electric slide at some kid's bar mitzvah, Hubbard Street will be performing this Saturday night.
Tickets for Hubbard Street 2 are $20 for the general public and $14 for students. The pre-performance discussion with the dancers will be at 7 p.m. and the show itself begins at 8 p.m. There will also be a post-performance discussion with the company.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
